Shh! The US Is Eavesdropping on the World

Only by letting the United States feel “pain” will the nation truly stop listening in on politicians and other important global sectors, in order to establish mutual respect and equality in international relations.

The door from which this listening takes place opens easily and shuts hard. Today, the mutual trust that the European allies of the United States shared has been largely compromised, a state of affairs that commenced with the Iraq War, which caused a huge rift between the United States and Europe. Despite promising not to spy secretly on Germany and other allies now or in the future — a tacit near-admission of American spying — Obama did not dare admit outright that spying had occurred in the past.

A snippet from the Internet illustrates this vividly: Putin calls Merkel and says, “Did you know that Obama has been listening to our phones?” Merkel, shocked, exclaims, “What? I’ll call him and set him straight.” Merkel calls Obama, but before she can speak, Obama says: “Don’t listen to Putin. We are not that kind of people. I have never done such a thing!” But, at the moment, any explanation that the United States could give seems empty.

The truth has been submerged underwater. The United States claims that the so-called monitoring mainly stems from counterterrorism and security needs, but the real problem is not so simple. As German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, an important reason why she was targeted was because the technological and economic developments of Germany have posed a threat to the United States, so the United States was likely interested in finding out about Germany’s latest innovations and discoveries. On the other hand, Germany has also become Europe’s leader, with the European debt crisis playing an important role. Merkel’s attitude toward the debt crisis in Europe, as well as her support for integrating European and Russian power, are all issues about which the United States is extremely concerned. Likewise, Germany acts as leader on many international issues and cooperates with the United States, which makes the United States even more curious. As a result, monitoring Merkel and others became a logical step, though it inevitably angered allies of the United States.

“Listening through the door” is undoubtedly a huge blow for United States-European relations, not only to the extent of disrupting their mutual trust, but also in terms of the free trade agreement between Europe and the United States. At Obama and Merkel’s next meeting, Merkel could probably say, “You don’t even need to ask about my thoughts. You probably know them already.” At least for the short term, the United States and Germany, along with other allies, will suffer from a certain degree of damage as a result of the monitoring. A sense of trust will likely take time to restore, necessitating good behavior from the United States.

In contrast, monitoring in China goes much deeper. The recent exposure of American spying on major cities in China reflects the amount of distrust between the United States and China, while also revealing China’s vigilance toward the issue. The United States in particular wanted to understand China’s recent policy changes and developments, as well as where China stands on a number of international issues and how to interpret its relationship with the United States, so spying was clearly one of the most convenient and economical methods of obtaining this information. As a result, Google, Apple and other companies that are developing in China may be affected by this spying scandal.

It should be noted that the United States spies on foreign politicians not only out of its own interests, but also as a result of its extremely dominant hegemony. For the United States, there is no alternative to spying on these countries, and these countries could not stick together to counter the United States, which is why it carried out spying with impunity.

This presents a new challenge to international political and economic stability; soon, countries could possibly jointly cooperate to counter the United States, protesting through the United Nations, through international legal action against the United States, through amendments to domestic law for spies, through legal sanctions against those who assist the United States in its spying or through refusal to cooperate with the United States.

Only by “hurting” the United States and allowing them to feel “pain” can we truly stop the nation from spying on politicians and other important global sectors. Only through genuine mutual trust, respect and equality in relationships can we achieve healthy and stable international relations.